There is an increasing need for methods and reagents for the amplification of nucleic acids. Generation of multiple copies of a particular nucleic acid is often necessary or helpful in order for the nucleic acid to be used for a given application. For example, in order to analyze the nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid of interest, frequently, the nucleic acid is replicated to increase its copy number before the sequence is analyzed. In another example, in order to determine the presence or absence of a particular nucleic acid in a sample, a sample may be treated under conditions such that if the particular nucleic acid is present in the sample, it may be amplified. In another example, a nucleic acid for use as a probe may be copied repeatedly to generate a large number of nucleic acids containing the same sequence as the original nucleic acid template, thereby generating many copies of the nucleic acid which may be used as a probe.
A variety of methods for the amplification of nucleic acids are known. For example, polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”) (see, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,202) is a popular method for the amplification of nucleic acids. To successfully perform a PCR reaction, the reaction must be performed at multiple different temperatures, which are repeated for multiple cycles. This requires hardware or other mechanisms for repeatedly changing the temperature of the PCR reaction. Another method for amplification of nucleic acids is referred to as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (“LAMP”) (see, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,410,278). LAMP reactions may be performed isothermally, but typically involve the use of four different primers which recognize a total of six distinct sequences on the target nucleic acid.
To facilitate the generation of amplified nucleic acids for the many and growing number of applications which use amplified nucleic acids, new methods and reagents for the amplification of nucleic acids are desired.